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God Is an Englishman

Christianity and the Creation of England

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'Allows us to understand the profound, and often profoundly beneficial, impact of Christianity' Anthony Seldon

'Superb ... Lively and erudite' The Telegraph

Christianity in England is in decline. Congregations are dwindling and ever fewer young people believe. Should we merely shrug our shoulders and accept this as inevitable and even healthy, or is something important being lost?

Bijan Omrani argues that this decline is the most momentous change to occur in English history. He shows how a religion that has been part of our national story for over 1700 years was instrumental in the creation and development of the English nation, its codes of law and morality, and its structures of government and kingship. He demonstrates its profound cultural impact, in areas ranging from architecture and literature to our very landscape and the structure of our everyday life and language. Its influence, he contends, has been enormous, largely benign, and shouldn't be lightly abandoned.

Ending with a rousing call to retain Christianity, rightly understood, as a way of dealing with both the eternal questions of the human condition, as well as the malaises of modernity, this is an erudite and tender tribute to our Christian history and heritage.

©2025 Bijan Omrani (P)2025 Little, Brown Book Group Limited Christianity Europe Great Britain History Thought-Provoking Middle Ages
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Bijan Omrani’s God Is an Englishman: Christianity and the Creation of England is a persuasive and elegantly written reminder of something that modern conversations about national identity often forget: England did not simply become Christian, it was, in large part, formed by Christianity.

Omrani argues convincingly that Christianity was foundational to England’s political and cultural development. The conversion of the Anglo-Saxons, the organisation of the Church, the intellectual world of the monasteries, and the shared rhythms of worship all helped knit together what might otherwise have remained a loose collection of competing kingdoms. The Church was not a decorative feature of early England; it was structural.

What makes the book particularly effective is its accessibility. This is narrative history at its best, clear, elegant, and engaging without being dense or overly academic. Omrani doesn’t bog the reader down in historiographical battles. In fact, he doesn’t engage modern secular scholarship in a particularly confrontational way at all. Instead, he simply tells the story in a way that makes the Christian foundations of England feel obvious again.

The chapters on Bede are especially strong. Omrani shows how Bede didn’t just record England’s early story — he helped shape it. His Ecclesiastical History gave the disparate Anglo-Saxon kingdoms a sense of shared identity and destiny. The treatment of the Reformation is also convincing, presented less as a clean break from the past and more as part of a long and continuous Christian story.

If I have one reservation, it’s that Omrani’s sympathy toward Christianity is clear throughout. That conviction gives the book coherence and warmth, but at times it feels like a deliberate correction of contemporary secular narratives, perhaps even a slight overcorrection. That said, it never descends into polemic.

The thesis itself isn’t especially surprising and perhaps that’s the point. Omrani isn’t trying to shock; he’s trying to restore perspective. In that, he succeeds. For anyone interested in how religion shaped national identity, or in understanding England before modern secular assumptions took hold, this is a thoughtful and rewarding read.

England Was Built on the Altar

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it is well laid out history of the church of England through the ages and how it relavence for today .

a great listen

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it should be noted that Christianity existed among the Welsh/Irish since ~300 ad which this title does not cover. The conclusion of religious tolerance in contemporary Britian as a result of the British Civil War and further developments is misleading. Tolerance among protestant denominations was achieved and Romanian permitted only if it did not become seditious under Cromwell. Anglicans and independents would have never tolerated paganism, witchcraft or sexual deviancy which all passes as religion in modern Britian. very good overview and analysis otherwise and recommended.

Good overview of Christianity in England

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Whilst I found the title off-putting (and fear some will find it offensive) this book proved to be a gem. Clearly argued and presented, this book takes us on a long and detailed history of the way in which Christianity has helped shape the best of ‘Englishness’. The book also encourages us to look afresh at Christianity’s current challenges and gifts. The way forward, of course, remains significantly in our hands.

A call to turn and appreciate our heritage

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Fascinating history of the church being a lantern in the Dark Ages: the creation of the state of England: the energy and accomplishment of the Evangelical period of the 19th century: contrasted with the authors recollection of his own upbringing. Plaintive and painful at times - and urgent.

Important, illuminating and personable.

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